The Promise
by SiddaCullen
Summary: Cinderella-Revenge style. Cinderella may have been content to let the prince sweep her off to the palace without another thought about the evil step family that made her a servant in her own home. Amanda Clarke is no ordinary Cinderella, and she's going to do whatever it takes to make them pay.


**A/N: This has been an idea that's played in my head for sometime. I just got to thinking one day what would have happened if Victoria had married David like she'd planned, but something had happened to him and Amanda ended up in her care? I've never thought she liked Amanda, even when she was little. This story came about as a result. Some changes that have been made to canon: Charlotte and Daniel are twins in this story. Amanda, Charlotte, Daniel, Nolan, and Jack are all the same age. I do not own Revenge or any of it's characters.  
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_Chapter One_

"Mom, can I get this dress? _Please? _It's the only one that I've liked so far and the dance is next week!"

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Grayson was practically on her hands and knees in front of her mother, gesturing to the lilac sleeveless gown that she'd deemed to be the perfect prom dress. She'd already sent a picture of it to her boyfriend Adam so that he could find a matching tux. Amanda Clarke rolled her eyes, careful to keep her gaze to the ground so Victoria wouldn't see.

"I don't know, Charlotte. That color doesn't suit you very well. It would look better on _her." _Victoria gestured to her stepdaughter, and Amanda's heart skipped a beat. The three of them had been to the fanciest dress stores in the Hamptons all afternoon and so far she hadn't been allowed to try on any of them. Not that Amanda would have wanted to even if Victoria said it was okay. School dances had never really been her thing. Still, it would have been nice if her stepmom would actually treat her like her daughter for once, but at this point she knew it would never happen. The only reason they'd bothered to bring her at all was to carry the bags. She was a glorified servant, and it had been that way for the past eight years.

Charlotte scoffed and threw a disbelieving look Amanda's way. "You're not serious. Nothing would look good on her! She has the complexion of an albino! Besides Mom, all the girls at school are going to wear blue. Do you really want me to blend in the crowd?"

"Of course not, darling, but…"

"So it's settled then." Charlotte smiled triumphantly as she took the dress off the shelf and proceeded to take it to the checkout. Victoria closed her eyes and took a deep breath before following her daughter, leaving Amanda alone in the back of the store. She was tempted to go out the back entrance and run away before they could find her, but she couldn't for several reasons. She'd be graduating in two months, and she was still waiting on acceptance letters from several colleges that she'd applied to. If she couldn't stick out with the Graysons for two more months, her entire future would be ruined before it even began.

The second reason was that she'd promised her father that she would stay with Victoria, Charlotte, and Daniel so that he would know she was okay. His battle with cancer had been long and excruciating, and Amanda almost hadn't survived it. Seeing her dad suffer that way had been more than she could handle. She could still remember the last time she saw him as though it were yesterday…

* * *

><p>"<em>Amanda, you have to promise me something." <em>

_ Amanda walked in the room she'd designated as the 'sick' room of their small beach house with Victoria right behind her. Both of them were in tears and every now and then Victoria would let out a sob that filled the entire room. She glared at the woman who had been her stepmother for the past three months, but as usual Victoria paid her no attention. _

_ "What?" The nine year old turned her attention back to her father. She sat down on the edge of the bed and felt a single tear fall down her cheek as David took her hand in his. _

_ David turned to Victoria, his face as pale as the white sheets he lay on. "Can you give us a minute, please? It'll only be for a minute." _

_ Amanda didn't turn around a Victoria whispered, "Of course." She listened to the retreat of her footsteps and only spoke after she heard the door close behind her. _

_ "You have to promise me something," David repeated, squeezing her hand for emphasis. "I know you weren't exactly thrilled when I married Victoria. You and her don't exactly see eye to eye, but I hope one day that will change, because she's going to be your only parent soon."_

_ More tears fell down Amanda's cheeks at her dad's words. "No. You're going to get better! You told me you would!"_

_ David's face fell and he looked as sad as Amanda had ever seen him. "I know I did, sweetie. But things have taken a turn for the worst, and I fear I won't be around much longer. I'll admit that I may have rushed into marriage, but I only had your best interests at heart. Victoria will give you the home you deserve. You'll have a mom, brother, and sister who will love and care for you as much as you will for them. I couldn't go peacefully if I thought I was leaving you alone." _

_ By now father and daughter were crying openly, squeezing each other's hands with as much strength as they could muster. _

_ "So I want you to promise me that you will stay with Victoria and the twins. I want to know that I did my best for you and that you will be well taken care of. Can you do that for me?"_

_ Amanda nodded, not trusting herself to speak. _

_ David smiled and returned the nod. "You know how much I love you?"_

_ "Infinity times infinity."_

* * *

><p>Amanda wiped away a tear and pushed the memory back. He'd called Victoria in after that, and by the next morning he was gone. She knew he'd made her promise to take care of Amanda and be a mother figure to her, but so far she'd broken that promise in spades. She gave Charlotte and Daniel everything they asked for, and she was lucky enough to get a school permission slip signed. Victoria had already told her she wouldn't be going to prom because of her 'attitude,' yet she dragged her along for Charlotte's prom dress shopping. If only David could see how badly Victoria had failed him.<p>

"Amanda!" Victoria snapped at her from the front of the store. Amanda rolled her eyes as she left the store, pushing past her stepmother with as much force as she dared.

Once outside Charlotte pushed the bag that held her dress in Amanda's arms. "Hold this. We're going to go for shoes now."

Amanda saw Victoria hide a smile as she looped arms with her daughter and crossed the street to the shoe store. Neither of them glanced back to see if she was following. She despised the fact that she had no choice, and that they knew it and exploited it. She wasn't family, just an extra burden that had been thrust upon them. They had more than enough to give, and only gave her as little as they could so that she could survive. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

* * *

><p>The three of them didn't arrive back at Grayson Manor until just after sunset. Amanda strained under the weight of all the purchases Charlotte and Victoria had made that day. "You can leave the bags in our rooms, and then wash up for dinner. If Daniel is up there you can also tell him to join us as soon as he sees fit to do so," Victoria said as she and Charlotte went into the dining room.<p>

Amanda was tempted to throw a mock salute her way, but she didn't want to risk anyone seeing her. So she trudged up the stairs to do as she was told, praying Daniel wasn't home yet. Being the only son in a female-dominated house, he was the typically spoiled, over-privileged hell-spawn who deemed it necessary to taunt Amanda every chance he got. She was careful to keep her steps quiet as she placed Victoria's purchases in her room and Charlotte's in hers. Then she slipped past Daniel's room, grateful to see the door closed, which meant he was out. She breathed a sigh of relief as she hurried up to the third floor, which housed her small room.

She pulled out a flowery dress that Charlotte had only given her after she decided she no longer liked it, and put it on since Victoria forbade jeans and any sort of casual wear at the table. Amanda only felt like a charity case whenever she was forced to wear a dress since Victoria refused to buy her any nice ones, claiming it was only because she never showed an interest in nice things.

After running a brush through her blond hair, she took a deep breath and went back downstairs to join two of her three least favorite people for dinner.

Neither Victoria or Charlotte looked up when she walked in and took her usual seat beside Charlotte. One of the maids was busy dishing up the dinner of lamb chops. She threw Amanda a small smile before placing Victoria's plate in front of her. Amanda smiled back, realizing it was her first for the day. Her smiles were only reserved for people she liked and cared about, which admittedly weren't very many. She only had two friends at school, and some of the people in Victoria's employ.

"I take it Daniel isn't home?" Victoria asked sharply.

"His door was closed. I'm assuming he's at polo practice," Amanda replied, just as sharply.

"The boy hardly ever sees fit to join us for any meal anymore. Not that I can blame him too much. This house feels more like a morgue than a home sometimes," Victoria mused.

"Speaking of," Charlotte interrupted. "A few of us were going to go to the beach later tonight. I'm assuming it's okay if I go? I can't stand being cooped up in this house any longer than I have to." She eyed Amanda as she said it.

Victoria sighed. "I suppose if you must. But _please _try to be home by midnight. You know how I can't sleep when I worry about you."

Amanda rolled her eyes into her plate. "I'm going out to see Nolan later. Is that okay?"

"Have you finished all your homework?"

"That's why I want to see Nolan. We were going to study for the math test tomorrow."

Victoria sighed. "Is there any reason why you can't do that here? Or is it really that difficult that you must seek the help of others in order for you to be successful? It's important for you to learn one day that you must eventually take control of your own future. If you cannot learn these things for yourself, how will you ever get by when you're older? What would your father say if I gave into your weakness and let your friends learn this stuff for you so that you don't have to?"

Charlotte laughed, but quickly turned it into a cough. "Mom's right, Amanda. Those math tests aren't even hard. It's so easy that even Daniel managed to get an A on the last one. If you can't do that, that's kind of pathetic."

Amanda felt her blood boil as she stabbed at a piece of lamb. "He's not learning this stuff for me. We were just going to go over the material so that we were both prepared. Where's the harm in that?"

"The harm is when going over the material turns into Nolan doing all the work for you. I know he would be only too happy to do that for you if that's what it took to please you. You can be a very manipulative girl sometimes and I don't want to see him get hurt over something like that. No, I think it would be best if you studied up in your room."

"You can't be serious!" Amanda exclaimed before she could stop herself.

"Excuse me?" Victoria sat rigid in her seat as she glared daggers at her stepdaughter.

"You let Charlotte go to a party at the beach without even batting an eyelash, yet you won't let me go over to Nolan's to study for a test? How is that fair?"

"It's fair because I said it's fair. Your father left you in my charge, which makes me responsible for you. That means you do what I say and follow my rules, and if you don't like it, you're free to leave."

Both she and Charlotte stared at her as though daring her to call her bluff and leave. For a moment Amanda was tempted to do just that, but she couldn't forget the promise she made to her father.

"Whatever," she muttered as she threw her napkin on top of her barely touched food. "Have fun at your party," she snapped at Charlotte.

She stormed out of the dining room, but stopped as soon as she was out of view of Victoria and Charlotte, leaning against the wall to steady herself and stop herself from crying.

"Honestly, the amount of disrespect that girl shows me. After everything I've done for her, you'd think following some simple rules would be the least she could do," Victoria said. Amanda held her breath, not wanting to miss a word.

"I know, Mom. It's appalling. Sometimes I wonder why you still keep her around," Charlotte replied over the scraping of forks and knives clattering on the plates.

"Well at this point it's too late. And anyway, I made a promise to her father. Whatever problems that girl has, I did love her father, and I want to do right by him. Throwing out his daughter after promising I would look after her would be an insult to his memory."

"I hope she knows how lucky she is. Most people wouldn't keep someone that troubled around. You have such a good heart."

Amanda couldn't stomach another word. She was careful to keep quiet as she went up to her attic bedroom. She wanted to slam the door shut, but she didn't want to give them any more ammunition so instead she took her pillow and flung it across the room as hard as she could.

How dare Victoria think she was the problem? Daniel stayed out all night doing god knew what, Charlotte manipulated her mother into letting her go to parties on the beach and getting whatever she wanted, spent an inordinate amount of money on clothes, but Amanda was the troubled one? All she'd wanted to do was go to Nolan's house to study for a difficult test, but that was causing too much trouble. She knew she was only an obligation to Victoria, but to hear her actually say it out loud…she didn't know how much more she could take.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. When she saw Nolan's name on the caller ID, she immediately picked up. "Are you on your way yet?"

Amanda glanced at her door and only had to think for half a second before she replied, "Yep. Leaving now."


End file.
